The Ultimate Life Form
by 89animegirl
Summary: Shadow the Hedgehog is the Ultimate Life Form and one of the baddest heroes of Mobius, able to defeat grown men with a single punch. But what happens when a young rabbit girl needs the kindness that he never even knew he had? Shadow and Cream will both learn valuable lessons in this story of a unique friendship and the true meaning of inner strength.(NOT Shadream, it's platonic.)
1. Chapter 1

**For those of you still waiting for the next chapter of the Sonic Underground Finale, I want you to know that it is still coming, and that this short is just a little thing I came up with a while ago. Shadow is a dark and sullen teen, and Cream is a bright and polite little girl. When their paths cross, Shadow and Cream will learn lessons of life that they never would have learned otherwise in this cute 3-part (plus epilogue) take on Shadow's otherwise uncaring personality. I've revised and written it, and I hope you all enjoy. By the way, Reviews always accepted!**

**Cover image done by me, and the dog character is just a random guy. And all characters and references relating to Sonic the Hedgehog belong to SEGA and its associates. Enjoy!**

Shadow is walking down the bright woods in the middle of fall. The pedals of the flowers are bright pink and soft compared to the crunchiness of the fallen leaves beneath his specially engineered rocket shoes. The air is sweet and Shadow breathes in deeply as the wind flutters the trees.

Shadow has recently taken a one week hiatus from GUN's missions and is planning to reunite with Rouge to watch a movie at her house for the night. But being the middle of the day, Shadow has a rare moment to relax, and he stands in those woods taking in the beauty of the natural scene. Shadow has come to "admire"what he knows as Earth, some call it Mobius, but it's still one thing that everyone has in common. Nobody hates it.

Shadow perks his ears at what sounds like labored breathing, and listening more closely, he hears somebody running, and fast. Shadow curiously walks toward the direction of the disturbance, making sure to remain unspotted. Just as shadows do, he remains masked.

From the bushes, Shadow spots a clearing where a frantic small girl runs out into it and collapses. She hits her head on a rock and drops her basket, sending flowers everywhere. But wait, that one thing, that's not a flower…

Shadow is surprised to see that the little girl was toting a Chaos Emerald, but not suspicious enough to walk out until he knows exactly what the situation is. Waiting for something new to happen, he looks closely at the unconscious youngster, wondering how a shrimp like her could even know about a Chaos Emerald. And that's when it hits him.

_Wait a minute… _Shadow squints a little and finally recognizes her. _She was with Rose and the Fat one when we were confronting Metal Sonic…But wait. What was her name…Carol? Crissy? Katherine? _Shadow racks his brain for an answer until his concentration is broken by a mysterious figure that walks out into the clearing. A grey dog appears, with black ears, spiked hair that looks like Shadow's spines, a black tail, and a large white spot on his back. To Shadow's interest, the dog is carrying a knife in his hand. He has a raspy laugh and practically drips with pride. As he walks with a sickening swagger he swings his black tail in circles with his free hand, juggling the knife in the other.

"Aww, did the wittle baby hurt herself? How sad…" Says the menacing stranger; he picks up the girl by the back of her shirt and lifts her of the floor, her limp body looks as light as a pillow.

"You should have just given me the gem when I asked you, but now you had to go and knock yourself out cold." The Man fleers at her and throws her to the ground coldly.

" I'll be taking that jewel now. Sure to fetch me a pretty penny on the black market, what do you think?" The man says, talking superciliously to the unconscious rabbit.

"I think you should stop picking on little girls." The man whips his head around to meet the black hedgehog's harsh blood red gaze. Twirling on his finger is the Aqua Emerald; he snatches it from the air and softly throws it up and down, mocking the thief. He stands tall and his face is dead serious, his head slightly lowered to let the man get a good look at his fiery red eyes. The man shudders upon meeting his gaze, and shakes his head back and forth, forcing the memory out of his mind as he fruitlessly attempts to intimidate the hardened youth. He keeps the knife at his side, but in full view of Shadow, which only serves to amuse the hedgehog. He almost has to work at keeping a smile from creeping across his face.

"Yah in way over your head, you shrimp. Give me that thing if you know what's good for yah." The man points his knife at Shadow and bends his knees slightly to initiate a fighting position. Shadow chuckles at the man's comment and retorts with one of his own, still playing with the Aqua Emerald.

"That's funny, the only thing over my head is this Emerald, and now it's in my hand. Over….hand….OVER….hand…up, and down…" The man swings his knife and slices the air in front of him, catching Shadow's attention.

"You think this is funny you little twit? Give me the diamond and I might not hurt you." With a raised voice, the man creeps closer to Shadow until Shadow can feel the man's furious breathing on his face. The man is a good three inches taller than Shadow, a large amount by Mobian standards, and Shadow deadpans him with total disinterest. He spoke three words.

"It's an emerald." This sends a new wave of anger into the man and he backs up a step, raising the knife to Shadows chin. Shadow's gaze never falters.

"Are you testing me?" The man says menacingly.

"Yes." Shadow responds honestly.

"I am going to KILL you." The short-tempered dog threatens. Shadow backs up and takes a deep breath. He releases it and his eyes look scared; the man pushes a smile across his face. But the smile turns into a bitter snarl when Shadow's face transforms into a brazen smirk.

"Try me." He says.

The man plunges the knife at Shadow's face and is shocked to see that he moved out of the way with ease. Shadow, standing directly to the left of the still shocked attacker, shakes his hand twice and delivers a devastating right hook into the man's cheek. The impact causes the man to be flung into the trunk of a tree, still clutching onto the razor-sharp knife. His head falls to the side and his eyes struggle to regain their surroundings. The man strains himself to just get up, his head spinning with each uneasy blink. To his behest, Shadow is standing defensively over the girl, holding the emerald straight out in front of him and speaking with an ominously calm voice.

"Now… Get out of my sight." The bewildered thief can think of no other option; he flees into the brush, leaving Shadow and the little rabbit girl to themselves. Shadow looks at the mess of flowers on the floor and within seconds, he finds himself picking them up and placing them into the basket. He places the Chaos Emerald in the basket, piling the many colorful flowers on top of it. He occasionally glances at the unconscious girl, wondering how to deal with her.

_I should just leave her here; this was none of my business to begin with._ Shadow thinks while putting the last of the flowers into the basket. He sighs. _But if I do leave her here, that man will probably come back and try to hurt her. _Shadow looks at the flowers than back to the girl, still pondering her name. _But she could fight Metal Sonic, how come she couldn't handle that thug? _Shadow picks up the basket to bring it closer to the girl and notices the label.

CREAM THE RABBIT: IF FOUND, PLEASE RETURN TO 443 PEDAL ROAD.

"Cream huh?" Shadow says aloud. He takes one last look at the girl and sighs. _But I have to remember…She's still just a small child._

"Alright kid, it's your lucky day." Shadow carefully picks up the young rabbit and carries both her and her basket far from the scene of the crime. Meanwhile, scornful blue eyes watch leave from the concealment of the brush.

"Drat." Says the raspy-voiced stranger.


	2. Chapter 2

Upon arriving at the Rabbit Residence, Shadow is immediately struck by the quaint garden and sheer friendliness of the atmosphere. Carrying the still unresponsive rabbit in his arms, he turns the doorknob, relieved to find that it is open. The house is dark, so Shadow assumes that her guardian is not home at the moment. He walks down the dim hallway and comes upon a door labeled **Cream's Room**. Upon opening the door, Shadow squints at the surprising amount of light that the open curtains let into the bright room. So. Much. Pink.

Shadow sees Cream's canopy bed and carefully lays her down on it. He then grabs a blanket from her closet and lays it down over her. He can hear her soft breaths as she lay peacefully on the bed. Shadow walks out of the room and heads for the kitchen. The room has a faint aroma of cinnamon and flour, and Shadow can tell by the room that Cream's mom enjoys cleanliness, and that Cream does not make much mess. Searching briefly, Shadow finds Vanilla's number on the fridge and dials it into the telephone on the counter. After a couple dial tones, Shadow reaches her.

"Hello?" says the sweet voice on the other side.

"Yes, Cream's mother I presume?" Shadow says.

"Who is this? How do you get this number?" Asks Vanilla.

"My name is Shadow the Hedgehog, and I'm a close…acquaintance of Sonic's." Shadow answers, hesitating to say that he has any connection with the latter; "Listen, I escorted your daughter home Miss…

"Call me Vanilla." Says Vanilla.

"Vanilla. I took her home after she got into trouble in the woods. A man was chasing her." Shadow jerks the telephone away from his head that second when Vanilla's worried shriek threatens to blow out his eardrum.

"OH MY GOSH! IS SHE ALRIGHT?!DID HE HURT HER?! OH NO… HOW IS SHE? IS SHE OK?!" Shadow switches the ear he listened with before and calms down the distraught mother.

"Umm… she's fine Miss Vanilla. But she hit her head and is now she's just sleeping it off. Trust me miss, I will make sure she stays safe. I have experience with the medical field and can tell that she's going to be just fine." This appears to please Vanilla enough to get her to release a sigh of relief, but Shadow can still sense the bit of worry in her voice.

"Oh thank goodness. Thank you so very much Shadow."

"Uh, no problem. I'll be sure to call the police to inform them. " Shadow responds awkwardly. Shadow clears his throat and prepares to speak again. "But Miss, I may not be a professional at this, but I can tell you that leaving your daughter alone at the house is no way to take care of a child her age. You must be more careful, or there could be serious repercussions." Unlike his previous comment, Shadow speaks with a firm and straightforward tone. On the other side of the line, Vanilla sighs ashamedly and agrees with Shadow, asking him for a very big favor.

"You're right young man; I need someone to watch over her while I'm gone. And Shadow… I would hate to bother you, but would **you** please watch over her? Just until I get back to come up with a better solution?" Shadow is stunned by the odd request, never thinking of himself as the kind of person people would trust. But nevertheless, he responds to Vanilla with a still calm, but now more curious tone.

"Why would you ask** me** to watch over her?" Shadow asks.

"Well," Vanilla starts, "You said it yourself, leaving my child alone is not responsible, and because you were able to protect her in the woods, and that you have medical experience, I think you would be a great temporary child-minder." What she is saying makes perfect sense, but Shadow is still having trouble grasping it. But even so, he agrees.

"Alright then, so what time will you be here?" Shadow asks.

"Around six-thirty, can you manage that?" Vanilla responds.

"Yes." Shadow says.

"Alright then, I will see you in about seven hours, thank you so much for this Shadow. It means a lot to me." Vanilla replies gratefully.

"Whatever. It's no problem." Shadow hangs up the phone before Vanilla can continue to shower him with admiration; too much at a time is not good, even if it is compliments. He soon dials the phone and talks to the police about the attack in the woods; after they confirm that they will be sending investigators to Shadow's coordinates, he walks back into Cream's room and opens the door slowly to avoid squeaking it.

"Cream?" Shadow questions to the small opening to the room. Suddenly, a crazy Chao attacks him from behind and pulls on his spines, ruffling them. The Chao shouts "Chao! Chao!" his own language to mean that there is an intruder. Shadow is aware of Cream's pet Chao, Cheese, because Knuckles brought it up in one of their conversations. But right now, Shadow wants nothing to do with the miniscule animal.

"Hey, watch it you little puffball! I'm friend! Not foe!" Shadow speaks briskly, trying to shoo the little animal away. Suddenly, he snaps out a harsh "QUIT IT!" and the animal stares at him at a distance, scared. The Chao scurries under Cream's bed and hides under a loose sheet, staring up at Shadow.

_Maybe that was too much…_ Shadow began to think, but his train of thought is interrupted by Cream's stirring. Shadow freezes and watches anxiously to see the rabbit awake. He walks closer to the bed and sits down on the corner, waiting for her to stir herself awake. Before he knows it, she rubs her eyes and blinks rapidly, her eyes adjusting to the light. To Cream, the stranger is still fresh in her mind, and when a dark silhouetted figure is next to her, she reads the situation all wrong.

Cream shrieks at the top of her lungs and Shadow jumps off from the corner of her bed and raises his arms up to show her that he means no harm.

"Wait! Wait! Wait! It's me, Shadow! I'm a friend of Sonic's! Stop screaming! You're going to be fine!" Shadow finds that on his last word he i yelling into a silent room. Shadow regrets calling Sonic his friend, but it just slipped out; he wasn't going to use the word acquaintance while talking to a 6-year old. Cream sits up in her bed and she stares curiously at the ebony hedgehog. Shadow rubs his ears to stop the ringing and comments to the little girl.

"You can put out an ear with that scream you know." Shadow says, gaining a small apology from Cream. Out from under the bed, Cheese shoots out and starts attacking Shadow once again, pulling on his ears, buzzing around him, all while yelling his irritating call. Shadow and Cream are both surprised by the event, and Cream immediately starts to call off the Chao from his attack.

"Ah! Hey quit it you little thing! Ouch! That's my ear!" Shadow shouts as the Chao desperately defends its young owner. But right now, the young owner is also trying to stop the Chao.

"Cheese! Bad Chao! Stop attacking Mr. Shadow! Cheese!" Cream yells.

Eventually, Cream just grabs him and pets him down to calm, telling him that Shadow is a friend, not a bad man. After that, Cheese reacts much more kindly to Shadow, and Shadow is relieved that he need not worry about another Chao attack. Cream giggles and starts asking questions.

"Mr. Shadow, how did I get home?" Cream asks innocently. Shadow looks at her for a moment and decides that the truth would be the best answer to tell her.

"Don't you remember? Some strange man was chasing you through the woods. You tripped and hit your head causing you to become unconscious." When Cream tilts her head at the word unconscious, Shadow clarifies it's meaning as "fell asleep" and continues with the recollection. How he carried her home, spoke to her mother, and how he is going to be taking care of her for the next few hours. Cream is starting to remember the events as Shadow speaks them, and waits for him to finish speaking to her so she can understand more clearly. After Shadow is done speaking, Cream lays her head down on her pillow and sighs squeakily.

"Why did that man chase me anyway?" Cream says, but as soon as she says it, she pops up off of her bed and starts to panic.

"MY BASKET! Oh no! Where is it? Where did it go?!" Shadow calms Cream down and reaches onto the side of the bed, pulling up the basket. Cream takes it from Shadow's hands and digs for what she was so concerned about, the Chaos Emerald. With the gem in her hands, she sits back down on the bed.

"I remember now, the bad man was after this, wasn't he Mr. Shadow?" Cream asks. Shadow nods and Cream takes a big sigh of relief, she still has the emerald after all.

"Oh, well thank goodness I still have it." Says Cream.

"I know it's none of my business," Starts Shadow, "but why do you have a Chaos Emerald anyway?" Cream thinks for a moment and happily answers.

"Well, I was picking flowers and I found it in a big patch of them. I know that Mr. Sonic and the others like them, so I brought it with me to give to Mr. Sonic."

"Why?" Asks Shadow.

"Well one day I was out when a big storm came out of nowhere. I was really cold and kept getting the water in my eyes, and I knew I was lost. But then Mr. Sonic came up from behind me and gave me his umbrella. I know how much he doesn't like to get wet, so I thought it was a really nice thing to do." Cream answers.

"So that emerald's like a thank you gift?" Shadow asks. Cream responds chirpy and quickly.

"Yep!" Her word is followed by a moment of silence until Cream begins to speak again.

"I'm sorry that you have to watch over me Mr. Shadow." Cream says politely. Shadow is a little taken aback; she didn't expect the little girl to be apologizing to him. In fact, he feels like apologizing to her for not making it clear that she shouldn't apologize! Young children are supposed to be supervised, clearly she must not be that used to it.

"Uh, it's no big deal." Shadow says, and then he inquires about the situation he had to step into.

"I have a couple questions for you, how come you didn't fight that man? I know you are way tougher than that, you even fought the giant Metal Sonic, so how come you couldn't defend yourself?" Cream looks down at her shoes with sadness in her eyes and Shadow feels a pang of regret.

"Well, the man snuck up on me, so I couldn't get ready, and he was just so tall and so scary, so I ran really fast. But then I ran too fast and I tripped and fell and then…" Cream started to cry and Shadow lightly patted her on the back to comfort her.

"Its fine, you don't have to keep talking if you don't want to. Just don't cry, ok?" Shadow says calmly. Cream wipes her eyes and looks a little timid.

"I'm sorry Mr. Shadow." Cream responds.

"You don't have to say 'sorry' so much kid, you didn't do anything wrong." Shadow explains. Cream gives him a smile and giggles a little, and Shadow looks at her puzzled. He does not understand children. Cream lies back down on her pillow and starts to regale Shadow with her own explanation for being out there alone.

"My mom does not like me to be inside all day, so I decide to pick flowers outside. My mom works so hard and I barely have time to spend with her in the day. And when she is here, she's normally too tired to do anything with me. I feel guilty that she has to do so much for both of us, but it's been this way as long as I can remember." Cream sighs and Shadow looks at her not exactly with a concerned look, but with a pensive one, and then she continues speaking. "I know that my mom loves me, and that's why she spends all day working, but it gets a little lonely with just Cheese to keep me company." Cheese, who is sitting in Shadow's lap, pops up and looks at Cream when she says this, but she just laughs and calmly explains herself.

"Cheese, I still love you, you know what I mean." Apparently Cheese does know what she means, because he curls up once again in Shadow's lap. Shadow then turns his attention back to Cream as she continues.

"I guess that's why I like to go on so many adventures with the others, but when I'm not doing that, it's just me and Cheese. I just wait around for something to happen." Shadow stands up and Cheese flies off of his lap. Cream is puzzled, because he's just standing there, staring at the floor with his hands in fists.

"Mr. Shadow?" Cream asks concerned. Shadow turns to her with a straightforward look and extends his hand, motioning for her to grab it. She does and Shadow stands her up on the floor, and she continues to stare at him curiously. He shrugs his shoulders and closes his eyes.

"Well, I know this much, you should probably do what you like. And since I'm supposed to watch you anyway, what should we do?" Shadow says, but Cream responds quickly.

"I don't know, what do you think?" Questions Cream. Shadow just shakes his head and gets down on one knee, placing his huge hands on Cream's petite shoulders; he looks with strained friendliness into her eyes and forces a small smile before answering.

"No way, I'm babysitting _you_. You're the person of the day. Now I'll ask again. What do **_you_ **want to do?" Cream understands completely and her face lights up with excitement, and she grabs one of Shadow's hands and leads him to the kitchen.

"Oh, we're going to have so much fun Mr. Shadow!" Cream says gleefully. Shadow can only muster a half-hearted laugh and roll his eyes. Shadow is still a little frustrated by what he said. No, not frustrated, surprised. He is surprised by the way he's handling the situation. If it was someone like Tails, he would have cared less, with Amy, he probably would have just ignored her completely, but with the rabbit girl, he assumes it's because he feels sympathy for her, but that is still far-fetched. After all, Shadow has the saddest history of all of Sonic's companions, so why does he feel so compelled to spend time with her?

When Cream gets him into the kitchen, she hands him a frilly pink apron and pleads with her eyes for him to put it on. With reluctance, he does, and Cream garbs her own yellow floral apron. She asks him to open the tall cupboards and retrieve some items.

"Mr. Shadow, can you please get the flour and the sugar…Ooh! And the chocolate chips please!" As Cream spoke to him the list of items he was to retrieve, Shadow reaches up and grabs them, each item he puts down on the counter adding a little more delight to the apricot rabbit's activity. When Shadow gets all the things, Cream reaches down and gets a big bowl from a lower cabinet and an unusual mixing utensil that resembles a slanted rubber spatula.

All the while Shadow is thinking about why he would be so complaisant with the child, someone whom he didn't even know very well. Is it because she is an innocent? No, that's not it. Maybe because she reminds him of Maria? No, it's not that either, he's sure of it. Is it because he feels sympathy because she was attacked? No no no… it's not that…**but what?**

"Mr. Shadow?" Asks an eagerly waiting rabbit. Shadow is jolted out his train of thought and responds to her query.

"Yes?" Shadow says as calm as possible.

"Are you ready?" Cream uses her big golden-brown eyes to look at him with an oddly familiar look, before shutting them and giggling happily. That's when it hits him. Hidden with a giggle and the excitement of a young child, but still visible enough to be caught, Shadow recognizes that look. Because it looks like the one he had when he stared at his reflection in the glass of the arc, while Eggman was trying to activate the Eclipse Cannon. The same look that longed for Maria, but also the one that deeply felt her absence. The look he has felt too often staring at his reflection in the mirror. Her eyes are tinted with it, barely there but still present.

It is the look of loneliness. Shadow is aware of his gaze, invisible to others, clear as day to him; eyes flush with a stain of loneliness 50 years in the making. His affliction is irreversible. But even knowing this, Shadow makes a promise to himself; he would not let his curse affect anyone else, especially not a young child such as Cream. She is young, she has friends, and even if most of the time she is not with them, she has to know that she is not alone.

"Mr. Shadow, are you okay?" Cream asks politely. Shadow snaps back into the moment and responds to Cream as if nothing is on his mind.

"Oh, yes I'm fine. So, what are we doing here?" Shadow questions, motioning to the numerous supplies on the kitchen counter. Cream accepts his answer and happily replies, clapping her hands in glee.

"We...Are going to be baking cookies!" Cream exclaims cheerfully, gaining a small amused grin from Shadow.

"And then you put this much flour….just a pinch of salt…ooh! Don't forget the vanilla!" Cream and Shadow have separate mixing bowls, and Cream instructs him by showing him how she would put each ingredient in the bowl. As she explains the directions, Shadow truly listens, and lets Cream correct him when he makes careless mistakes. This goes on for quite a while, and Cream seems to be enjoying herself quite a bit. Later, he drops the glass measuring cup and he falls to the floor to catch it before it shatters on the tile. This earns a small giggle from Cream, to Shadow's slight embarrassment, but otherwise, the baking went well. And although it seems completely shocking, Shadow actually enjoys himself.

The dough is done and Shadow carefully places both his and Cream's cookies into the 350 degree oven.

"Now Shadow," Cream says studiously, "The cookies will take at least twenty-five minutes to be ready, so you will have to be patient." Shadow nearly laughs at this, but he only manages a charmed smirk. Cream then points to around the kitchen and shoots her finger into the air.

"Mom says that if I make a mess, I have to clean it, but because you also made the mess… You have to help me!" Cream proclaims, now pointing her finger directly at Shadow. Shadow just shook his hand and messes with her.

"Nope, nuh uh, I don't want to clean." Shadow says jokingly.

"NOooo-ooo….That's not how it works!" Cream says, putting her hands on her hips and puffing her chest out to seem tougher. But Shadow remains unfaltering.

"Uh huh!" Shadow says like a little kid.

"Nuh uh!" Cream retorts. After about six more of those cycles, Shadow can't hold it, he actually starts to laugh.

"Hah ha ha… Oh, I'm just kidding kid; I'm going to help you clean. I am not going to let you do it all by yourself." Shadow kneels down and pats Cream on the head, who is unamused.

"That was not funny Mr. Shadow!" Cream says this, but her voice is hardly doing a good job of holding back her laughter. They each set to work cleaning the kitchen, washing the dishes, putting away the ingredients, and sweeping the floor. After a while, they decide to talk.

"So Mr. Shadow, I would hate to bother you, but may I ask you a question?" Cream says.

"Fire away." Shadow responds.

"Why do you not like Mr. Sonic and his friends so much? I mean, I know you like Miss Rouge, but she seems to be the only one you talk to. What did Mr. Sonic do?" Cream asks. Shadow stops scrubbing the counter for a brief moment and continues almost a second afterward.

"Well, Sonic and I are completely different. So we don't get along very well." Shadow says.

"How?" Cream asks.

"Well…" Shadow has to think about this for a moment, he really has no way to respond in a way she will understand, and that concerns him. "He just likes different things than I do, and we cannot seem to agree on anything." Shadow finally says, but Cream still probes for an answer.

"But do you like him?" Cream asks.

Shadow racks his brain for a moment and comes up with a half-response. "You know, I do not really know." He finally articulates. Cream, deciding she's bored of that question, asks another.

"So, when are you and Miss Rouge going to get married?" Cream asks innocently. Shadow's arm slips and he slams his chin into the wooden counter-top. Cream whirls around asking if he is okay, but Shadow just grabs his chin and rubs it to null the pain.

"Well," Shadow finally utters, "that's a difficult question to answer Cream. You see, Miss _Rouge _and I are only friends; actually, she likes Mr. _Knuckles_ in the way you say; trust me, I know."

Shadow adjusts his jaw while Cream continues to ask questions.

"Really? How can you tell?" Cream queries; Shadow cracks his jaw side to side and easily responds to her question.

"It's the way she looks at him." Shadow says.

"Really? I don't think that's it." Cream says innocently.

"Why would you say that?" Shadow asks, sitting down on a stool near the kitchen.

"Because the way Miss Rouge looks at you and the way she looks at Mr. Knuckles is the same." She says. Shadow does not know how to respond, and luckily, he doesn't have to. The bell for the oven goes off in that moment, and Cream is rushing to the oven yelling "Ooh! The cookies are done! The cookies are done!"


	3. Chapter 3

Shadow walks in close after her, keeping her away from the oven while the oven is still hot.

"Step back." Shadow says, and Cream obediently does so. He gets on his oven mitts and takes the cookies out of the still-hot oven. He places the trays on the cooling Rack and turns off the oven. He turns to see that Cream is excitedly reaching for one.

Shadow rips off his glove and grabs her hand before she can touch the treat, the swiftness of the maneuver shocking the young rabbit.

"Don't touch it!" He shouts. Shadow sighs and takes off the other mitt with his mouth and points his free hand at Cream, giving her a stern instruction.

"Cream, you must wait until the cookie trays cool before you touch them, or the hot metal could burn your hand. Be more careful." Shadow releases Creams hand and she rubs it as if she was actually burned, staring at what might have been if Shadow hadn't stepped in. What Cream says next completely dumbfounds the articulate teen.

"Thank you Mr. Shadow, you're so nice." Cream says with sincere smile on her face. Shadow looks at the tray with a completely normal look, but behind his eyes lies confusion, the confusion of being called _"nice"_ and the confusion for the confusion. Of course, Cream is just a little child, but it made him think, why is he doing all of this for her? Behind his hardened heart, killer frown, and frightening exterior, is it too scandalous to say that he can still _care_ for people? To Shadow, the concept in itself was not unusual, being around kind people all the time, but it never seemed like him. Shadow shakes off the thought as him overthinking things and realizes that Cream is retrieving milk from the fridge. Unsmiling, Shadow puts two of Cream's cookies on her plate and two of his own cookies on his plate using a spatula. He puts the plates on the table and reaches into the cupboard to get cups for the milk. When he turns around, it is not too surprising to see that Cream has already started to eat one of the cookies, but when Shadow looks to the plate, he is surprised to find that it is one of _his_ cookies that are missing.

"Your cookies are great Mr. Shadow!" Cream says, and when she sees that Shadow is a little quizzically, she explains further. "You see, we would both make cookies, and then we would test to see which ones are better, here Mr. Shadow, try one of mine." Shadow abandons the cups on the counter and takes a bite of one of Cream's cookies. He swallows it, turns his head to Cream and says "Not bad" then finishes the cookie. Cream then switches the plates and asks Shadow to try his own. Shadow tries his own cookie, and unsurprisingly, Cream's was better.

"Well Cream, I think you won." Shadow says blandly. Cream just up and starts laughing and cheering, and Shadow just sits down on one of the kitchen chairs and pours him and Cream a glass of milk. After about five minutes of indistinguishable cheering, Cream plops herself down on a chair and drinks her milk thirstily.

"So Cream," Shadow began, "now what do you want to do?" Cream contemplates this for a moment before rushing into the living room and turning on the T.V. Shadow decides to just see what she was up to, so she worked on her setup with no interruptions. She moves some of the furniture around to the edges of the room and straightens out the carpet. Shadow sits cross-legged in a chair in the room and waits patiently to see just what Cream is up to. When Cream gets out a disk from a drawer, Shadow's eyebrow peaks as his curiosity does. Cream puts the disk in the Wii and runs over to Shadow holding a two Wii-motes and a nunchucks. Cream hands one of each to Shadow and drags his arm over to the living room, that's when he decides it's a good time to ask the question.

"So what are we doing?" Asks the black hedgehog. Cream giggles excitedly and answers his question.

"We're going to play Just Dance 4!" Cream yelped excitedly. A bead of sweat drips down Shadows face and he stares uneasily at the remote in his hands. Cream asks him if anything is wrong, but he just sighs and grits his teeth.

"Just start up the game…" Shadow says with a tight jaw. Cream, not sensing Shadow's agitation, continues as if she saw nothing. She scrolls through the battle mode settings and asks Shadow to pick one. Since Shadow does not know much in the way of music, he just chooses the one that seems most kid friendly, it can't be **that** bad. He chose the combination of "Beauty and a Beat" and "Call Me Maybe", causing Cream to giggle a little. Shadow does not know what he did, but Cream decides to inform him that she has been playing the game for a lot longer than he has, and that she is confident that she is going to win. Shadow had no doubts that she _might _win, but he is not willing to let Cream win just so she could feel better.

They both dance like idiots for about half an hour, the entire time, Cream is laughing and spinning around, causing her to miss some moves, but she doesn't mind. And a smile had actually made its way to Shadows face when he got a "perfect" on a move. After a while, SHADOW is the one who wins the first match. He actually fist pounds the air and starts cheering, though not as excitably as Cream. Cream sits down on the couch and insists that she was just warming up, and that they should have a rematch with another song. Shadow pretends to reluctantly agree, and they literally dance the hours away. Shadow insists that they frequently stop for water, and Cream agrees, though she insists that she's fine.

They continue to dance until five and they go back to the kitchen for cookies and milk. Even though Shadow is a little amused, he still wears his comfortable frown and his eyes hold a gaze of unfriendliness. But Cream does not seem to mind in the least, and Shadow notices that her eyes, once tinted with loneliness, are now alive with excitement and friendship. It almost makes Shadow sad; his eyes will never change.

For the rest of the night, Shadow is a surprisingly great babysitter. He helps her make arts and crafts, lets her play with his spines (they make really fluffy ponytails apparently), assist her in playing fetch with Cheese, and makes her a nice spaghetti dinner.

"Thank you so much for everything Mr. Shadow!" Cream says as she hands her empty bowl to Shadow. Shadow places the bowl in the sink and washes off the dishes.

"No problem kid." Shadow says. The sun almost down now and Shadow knows he is going to be late for that movie night he had planned with Rouge. But surprisingly, he does not mind too much. He realizes that sometimes, you have to respect the things in life that others would take for granted, even if it is just the company of another. He takes a quick glance at the clock and sees that it is six-fifty, and that Cream's mother is late, but should be arriving at any moment by now.

He finishes the last of the dishes and he notices that Cream is starting to yawn. Knowing that Cream is tired, he asks her to brush (and floss) her teeth and get ready for bed. After a couple minutes, Shadow is tucking Cream in. A bright yellow star nightlight illuminates the room just enough so that Cream would not be scared; she is telling Shadow about how much of a fun day she had playing with him.

"*Yawn* Thank you Mr. Shadow, I had a really fun day. *YAWN*" Cream says sleepily.

"Yeah, well your mom is going to be home any minute now, you think you can hang tough until she gets here?" Shadow asks. But Cream is fading in and out of sleep and Shadow assumes that it wouldn't matter much anyway.

"Good night….Mr. Shadow….Thank you…" Cream falls asleep and Shadow pulls the covers up to her shoulders. Cheese goes on top of her bed and falls asleep cuddled up next to the pillow. Shadow leaves the room and makes sure the kitchen light is off before heading out the front door. He stares up at the sunset, still thinking about the truly out-of-character day he had with Cream. He chalks it up as a secret he will probably never tell anyone about and folds his arms behind his back. He then starts calmly thinking about how he's going to meet Rouge. It's true, Shadow does like Rouge, but only as a friend, not in the way Cream makes it sound, still though, he can't help but wonder what his night with her is going to be like. He closes his eyes and starts to think about the movie he wants to see with her.

He never even saw the blade.

Shadow's muscles all jerk forward, and when he attempts to strike out at the figure on his left, the man twists the blade in Shadow's abdomen, bringing him to his knees in sheer pain. Shadow's face remains frozen in a look of shock, one that the raspy voiced dog man is delighted to see on such a strong willed teen.

"Ooohhh…Surprised to see me _Mr. Shadow_?" The man's voice is full of malice, and when Shadow tries to find the strength to fight back against him, the man just jams the knife deeper into his body. Shadow can't speak, there's too much pain for that, and he can't even scream because he's too shocked at what just happened.

"Yah know, I thought you were dangerous, but it turns out that you're just a weak little kid who can't even protect a little girl. I'm going to get that Emerald, and just because you were _so_ cooperative before, I'm going to take her too." Shadow can only listen in horror and clench his fists at the man's words.

He is furious with himself for not being able to move through the pain, and even more furious that the man caught him by surprise. If he had known, even a couple seconds in advance, Shadow would have dropped him faster than a hot plate, but he had gotten careless. Now Cream is in trouble. _No! I can't let that happen; _Shadow thinks_, I can't let him do anything to her! Vanilla trusts me! Cream trusts me! I can't! _Shadow uses his all reserve strength and pulls a risky maneuver. Shadow jumps up and twists his body, and through the excruciating pain, punches the man in the jaw, sending him crashing into the door of the house.

He stalls the man, but the maneuver comes with an awful price. When the man was sent reeling, he jerked the knife out of Shadow's stomach, sending the once strong hedgehog to the floor, holding his side. The man gets up and stares at Shadow with contempt, but his contempt suddenly turns into a harsh smile.

"What's the matter? Nothing left for _Mr. Shadow_ to do? Well don't worry, I'll take good care of the little bunny rabbit." When the man turns into the house and heads for Cream's room, Shadow holds his side and winces through all the pain that spreads out from his stomach.

"No…ah!... C-Cr- Cream! Gah..." The blood is seeping through his glove, and Shadow can already feel it soaking the stones beneath him; but as he sees the man getting ever closer to her room, he utilizes the rest of his strength to call out even louder.

"CREAM!" Shadow passes out and the man walks into Cream's room.


	4. Epilogue

Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…

*Groan…*

Shadow blinks his eyes multiple times and shields them from the brightness of the harsh overhead lights. The room is almost all white, but the doors and floor are light grey, the equipment near the window and gifts on a table at the side offer the only color to the room. He attempts to get up only to find that **A.** his stomach hurts so bad that he can't even sit up, **B.** he has an I.V in his arm, and **C.** Vanilla is standing next to the bed telling him to lie back down.

"Oh no Shadow," says Vanilla, "The doctor says that it's best that you rest, and try not to strain the abdominal muscles." Next to Vanilla is Cream, who is looking worriedly at her ebony friend. Vanilla can sense that her daughter is distressed, so she decides that it's a good idea to escort her out of the room so that she doesn't have to see Shadow the way that he is.

"Come now Cream; let's let Mr. Shadow rest for a little while." As Vanilla escorts Cream out of the room, Shadow stops them.

"Wait, Ms. Vanilla, can I talk to Cream for a moment?" Says Shadow weakly. Vanilla looks at Shadow, then she looks to her daughter; Cream nods, so Vanilla reluctantly lets her go.

"I'll be in the waiting room." Says Vanilla. Shadow thanks her and he and Cream are left talking about what happened. Shadow is completely puzzled at how he got into the hospital in the first place, and now he is trying to find answers.

"Cream, w-what happened back at the house? All I remember is calling to you and then passing out. What happened after that?" Cream looks to Shadow kindly and starts telling him what happened.

"Well, when you yelled, Mr. Sonic came out of nowhere and stopped the bad man. Then I called the police and the siren vans took you to the hospital and fixed you up. Momma showed up and I asked her if we could come to see you at the doctor's, and she said yes." Cream looks like she's about to cry and then voices her concerns to the confused black hedgehog. "I'm so very sorry Mr. Shadow, I didn't mean to make you get hurt. It's all my fault." Shadow pats Cream on her head and gives her a stern look.

"Listen, this is not your fault Cream, I should have been more careful. You didn't do anything wrong. _I'm_ sorry that you had to go through this, you shouldn't have." Shadow gives Cream a sincere smile and she looks up at him, no longer crying. "I'm going to be fine now, you did a good thing calling the police the way you did. I'm proud of you." Cream wipes her eyes and smiles back at Shadow; she hugs him, sending a sharp pain through his stomach, but he lets it happen. She lets go and Shadow can hear Sonic and the others heading forward. He groans with the promise of the earful he's going to get from Sonic about this. Cream lets go and holds Shadow's hands for a brief moment.

"I better go Mr. Shadow; my momma's waiting for me." Cream squeezes his hands one last time and makes for the exit. But before she can leave, she stops at the doorway and says one last thing.

"By the way, I like your eyes." Cream scurries out of the room and left Shadow is a little perplexed with her final words; however, his train of thought is disrupted when Sonic and Rouge enter the room.

"Heya buddy, how are you doing?" Sonic says cautiously. Shadow snorts a little and looks to the side. He is waiting for Sonic's inevitable bragging, and he is entitled to it, he did save his life after all. But as much as Shadow is dreading it, he is surprised when it doesn't come. And then Rouge starts to talk.

"Well _excuse _me prince, but we had to take time out of our nights to come here. We were worried sick. Luckily for you, I'm going to forgive your tardiness for our date night." Rouge says sassily. Shadow chuckles really quickly at her comment and then he starts to talk, he feels as if something does not seem all there.

"Why would you guys be worried about me?" Asks Shadow.

"We were all worried Shadow," says Sonic sincerely, "Amy, Knuckles, and Tails are actually in the waiting room to hear if you're okay. It was just a huge surprise! I was just playing board games when Vanilla called saying you got _stabbed_; what was that all about?"

Shadow freezes. It doesn't make any sense. Cream said that Sonic came and saved them from the stranger, but now Sonic is saying that he just found out. It doesn't make any sense, and it's making Shadow very confused. Sonic had to have known if he was there; but then, if he didn't swoop in to save the day, how did everything turn out okay? Unless…

After a moment of stillness, Rouge tries to get Shadow's attention again. Suddenly, Shadow abruptly answers Sonic's question.

"Well, it's none of your business, but your little rabbit friend got attacked in the woods by that guy who stabbed me; I stopped him, and then he got revenge." Sonic and Rouge seem more than a little surprised by this. In fact, they seem utterly stunned. They had no idea that _this _was how he got hurt. Rouge gets close to Shadow and places both of her hands on his shoulders.

"My my, how _noble_ of you. I didn't know you had a heart under all that chest fur." Rouge runs her finger along Shadow's chin and kisses him on the forehead. Then Sonic puts a bouquet of flowers on a table near his bed. Shadow turns to see the table where Sonic put the flowers and is surprised to see that there was also candy, balloons, cards, even more flowers, and a basket. On Sonic's flowers, there's a note that reads: **Get well soon Shadow, from- All of us.** Shadow turns to see that Rouge and Sonic are leaving the room, and before he leaves, Sonic gives him a thumbs-up, saying "Get well dude."

When they do leave, Shadow turns over and picks up the basket, finding it surprisingly heavy. He picks up the card lying on top of the basket and reads it.

**To: Shadow, From: Cream; P.S: You're right, I am tough. Get well soon. 3.**

When Shadow looks through the flowers he cannot believe it, he sees the Aqua Chaos Emerald in there. He picks it up to make sure that it's real, and sure enough, it is. Shadow just stares at the beautiful gem in wonderment, piecing together what really happened that night.

Later that week, Shadow gets out of the hospital, and everyone is relieved that he had received no permanent injury. When Shadow gets home, he goes to the bathroom to take a shower. Creams words had never left his thoughts.

_I like your eyes…. _Shadow remembers. Out of curiosity, he looks in the mirror; he cannot believe it. He searches for the look, that one invisible look that he had stained into his eyes. He searches the gaze of loneliness but is hard pressed when he can't find it anymore.

It's completely disappeared.

...

Cream is now in her house and she puts a Band-Aid on her knee. Amy is next to her and is wondering why Cream won't tell her how she got that scrape. Vanilla had hired her to be Cream's regular babysitter while she was away; she decided that after the events of that day, she was going to be a little more careful with her daughter. If only she knew.

"Come on Cream, you can tell me; Please?" Amy presses.

"I won't tell." Cream says mockingly. When she heard Shadow yell her name that night, she immediately knew something was wrong; and when the stranger walked into her room she was ready to take action, _fast_. The man had barely made it through the door when he got a face full of Cream's knee. In the process, she accidentally hit the man's teeth, so she got a few cuts on her knee.

However, she doesn't mind in the slightest. Her mom got her a new babysitter, she finally realized that she was tougher than she gave herself credit for, and best of all, she found a new and unlikely friend in the one and only Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Life form.


	5. What Happened to That Guy Anyway?

**Hello people! If you ever wondered what happened to the dog guy, who's name is actually Rampage, then read on; if you don't care, I completely understand, he was a jerk.**

In a yellow jumpsuit, Rampage the Dog is serving time for breaking and entering in addition to assaulting two minors. Although, Shadow was debatable because in reality he is about 50 years old. Nevertheless, Rampage is serving five years for this minor crime, especially considering the fact that the "victims" were known superheroes. But Rampage, not having been aware of any of this knowledge is now serving time, and boy, are the criminals calling him out.

Calling him "stupid", an "idiot", and the sarcastic "genius" the dog man is getting much of a break. But one day, at lunch, he is approached by a rather colorful group of individuals, who propose to him an offer that sounds too good to refuse.

"Oy, mind if ya we sit nest to ya?" says the purple weasel-wolf hybrid. Rampage shrugs and makes room for the green duck. yellow polar bear, and purple weasel wolf. Then the dynamic individual started talking.

"Ey, I heared you got booked for assault, 'parently you managed to put a boy in a hospital." Says the stranger. Rampage leers at the unique man and grunts briskly.

"You heard right, I was trying to steal a huge gem that this one kid had, but he stepped in and ruined it for me." Rampage took a spoonful of mashed potatoes and shoved it in his mouth angrily. "Woulda' made me a pretty penny too. But who are you to care?" Without a second thought, the weasel proudly introduced him and his posse.

"Mah name is Nack, Nack the weasel, and the freaky lookin' one's Bean the Dynamite. Big, Tall, and Hairy over there's Bark. We used to besome of the brashest mercenaries you could believe, but then that ignorant hedgehog stole that from us. Alls we was doing was gamblin' and then po po came in tellin' us that we was arrested for burglarizing. I woulda been offended, heh ha, if I didn't know they were right, I d-We did steal some stuff." Rampage cocked his eyebrow at the three and finally inquired about their presence.

"Why are ya here...?" Says Rampage, that's when Nack leans in and whispers to him a proposition. With you in our gang, the man able to put one true powerful Shadow the Hedgehog in the hospital, we could run this place. And more importantly..." Nack whispers even more secretively into Rampages ear, Rampage both uncomfortable yet intrigued by his proposal.

"We could get out of this dump." Nack extends his hand wishing to accept a handshake from the grey dog.

"Whaddya say?" Rampage looks up to Nack's hand, then back to Nack and smiles maliciously. Rampage takes Nack's hand and shakes it eagerly, smiling harshly.

"Nack the Weasel, you have yourself a deal." Says Rampage. Bark stays silent and Bean giggles ferociously as everyone continues to eat their lunch, contemplating their hair-brained schemes.

**Alright! Now, I am not planning on making sequel about this, but a maybe few Easter Eggs will arise in future projects of mine. I would like to thank my family for being there, my friends, and throwing team, you guys are awesome! Anyway, after I finish the Sonic Underground Finale, I will be taking a hiatus for a while. But I assure you, when I return, I will have a great new story up, so be sure to check it out when the time comes. Guess you will have to wait for the Promised day...**

**Check out some of my other stories if you want, but for now, happy reading!**


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